Miga

This publication is a collection of speeches given by Akira Iida, Executive Vice President of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). In his speeches, Mr. Iida describes how MIGA has conducted its business in the past five years, setting the standard in various aspects of investment promotion. Annexes provide a business profile that includes MIGA¿s country membership, guarantee activities, premium income, and outstanding portfolio by sector, host region, and investor country.

The unique experience of the author in supervising the World Bank's efforts to create the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency is detailed in Part I of this book, which provides a case study for the successful preparation of a complex multilateral convention in record time. The book also provides an in-depth analysis of the operational and institutional aspects of MIGA relating them to the broader legal and economic issues concerning international investment flows. Part II deals with both MIGA's guarantee and non-guarantee operations. It covers in detail the different aspects of political risk insurance as well as the advisory and promotional services needed to encourage greater flows of capital and technology across national boundaries and towards developing countries in particular. Part III deals with three major institutional and policy issues which caused the greatest controversies in MIGA's preparatory work and raised questions that go beyond MIGA's concerns. These include the standards that apply to foreign investment, settlement of disputes and the organizational and voting structures of international financial institutions. This book should be of direct interest to a broad array of researchers and practitioners in the fields of international development, foreign investment, international law, political risk insurance and international financial organizations. The topicality of its subject and the prominence of its author add to the importance of the book which is likely to remain the most authoritative in its field for many years to come.

This evaluation assesses the effectiveness of the World Bank Group in helping its member countries improve their investment climates, within the context of the World Bank Group's overall mission of poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Foreign direct investment and private capital flows are highly concentrated geographically, with almost half of them reaching the top five destinations. These flows tend to evade many high-risk countries, with the exception of those directed to extractive industries. Regulatory and contractual risks, particularly in infrastructure, have inhibited investments in many parts of the developing world. A core objective of the World Bank Group (WBG) has been to support the flow of private investment for development; guarantees and insurance have been among the instruments that the Group has used to p.

The World Bank Group (WBG) has the potential to improve the contribution of extractive industries (EI) to sustainable development and poverty reduction. However, this report by the WBG's operations evaluation departments finds that although its EI projects have produced positive economic and financial results, it has not been successful in ensuring compliance to environmental and social safeguards. The paper examines the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, to assess their performance in moving away from a focus on economic benefits towards sustainable development, addressing the governance challenges associated with resource-rich countries, and mitigating environmental and social costs of the extractive industry.

This study from the Independent Evaluation Group draws lessons for development and climate change mitigation from the World Bank Group's far-reaching portfolio of projects in energy, forestry, transport, coal power, and technology transfer. Reviewing what has worked, what hasn't, and why, the evaluation's key findings include: Energy efficiency can offer countries direct economic returns that dwarf those of most other development projects, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Tropical forest protected areas, on average, significantly reduce tropical deforestation, preserving carbon and biodiversity. Deforestation rates are lower in areas that allowed sustainable use by local populations than in strictly protected areas. Deforestation rates were lowest of all in indigenous forest areas. For renewable energy projects, long-duration loans have been important in making projects financially viable.. But at prevailing carbon prices, carbon offset sales had little impact on most renewable energy projects rate of returns, and did not address investors need for up-front capital. Technology transfer broadly understood to include diffusion of technical and financial innovations related to low-carbon development has worked well when the logic of piloting and demonstration is well thought out, and when grants are used to mitigate the risk of pioneering efforts.